The Rijsel Irish Boy’Z were featured on our first sampler of 2012. The band hails from Lille (Rijsel in “French Flemish” language) and was born in 2009 as a side project when Les Carottes Râpées members Mikee and JP realized that both of them loved Celtic punk. Then, multi-instrumentalist Alain jumped in to add the traditional element to the RIBZ’s sound. However, they had to wait till the end of 2011 to become a serious project, when drummer Flo joined the band.

When I got the CD, Mikee told me that the demo have been recorded at home and it had not been mastered. So I was really surprised when I listened to the songs. Yes, it is a raw and no frills recording, rough at the edges, but the quality was far better than many official albums !!!

Another thought came to my mind. Three out of the seven tracks are available at Reverbnation: two free downloads (“Walkin’ Away” and “Drunken Sailor”), and one in streaming (“The Letter”). Are those really the best tracks? Maybe not. I feel that the Bloody Irish Boys infused song “The Letter” is one of the highlights on the demo, a top-notch Celtic punk song featuring great mandolin an fiddle. So, it's an obvious choice. But I should have chosen another tracks instead of the others to whet the fans appetites, since the demo is full of strong material.

For instance, “Gloo …”, a fantastic number: aggressive vocals, tin whistle … a sort of a Fisticuffs song. Or even “I Don’t Wanna Die”, another fast-paced catchy track that I have really enjoyed. Let alone song no. 2, “Dr. Chickenstein”. Celtic punk goes horror punk. The likes of Blood or Whiskey and Sir Reg have toured with horror punk legends The Misfits. I would like that they chose The Rijsel Irish Boy’z as support act the next time they’ll tour Europe.

I have read that the RIBZ have already written the 15 songs for their debut album. Stay tuned!

The French Celtic punk/Celtic rock/folk punk scene is becoming more and more appealing: The Booze, Celkilt, The Moorings, The Maggie Whackers, Saints & Sinners, Lords of the Pint and now Celtic punk-rockers The Rijsel Irish Boys. 2012: The Year of The French.